Field card
Swamp boss
American Alligator
Alligator mississippiensis
- Lives
- Swamps, marshes, rivers and lakes of the southeastern US
- Size
- Males often 3.4 to 4.6 m long; females usually under 3 m
- Eats
- Fish, turtles, birds, snakes and small mammals
- Status
- Least Concern (IUCN)
American Alligator facts
- Once endangered, it recovered under protection: one of the great conservation comebacks.
- In dry spells it digs "gator holes" that keep water for fish, birds and other animals.
- Whether its eggs hatch as males or females depends on how warm the nest is.
Myth Alligators can't climb.
Fact Young alligators can climb fences and low trees.
In Word Biome
The American Alligator is the boss at the end of the Swamp world. Tap it in the game to open this field card.
Boss
Sources
Checked against: IUCN Red List, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Smithsonian's National Zoo.